The True BA 100K Offer – The One That Started It All – Is Back

by Gary Leff

plane tails
Jul 01 2021

A dozen years ago Chase came out with a 100,000 point offer for their British Airways credit card. (The British Airways currency wasn’t called Avios then.) It was revolutionary and frequent flyers rushed to become British Airways Executive Club members and cardholders.

In recent years Chase has requested hefty spending to earn 100,000 Avios on the card, such as $20,000 in spend. Some members wanted to do this, since they were going to keep spending to earn a ‘Travel Together’ ticket that let them get a second award ticket on the same itinerary without spending additional miles. But it was a lot of spend. Now that’s changed.

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Uber Was Once The Underdog, Now They Use Regulators To Quash Competition

by Gary Leff

person holding phone near steering wheel
Jul 01 2021

New Yorkers thought that when the city capped the number of licenses for for-hire vehicles ‘to prevent traffic congestion’ they were regulating Uber. The truth is they were doing Uber’s bidding by handing the ridesharing giant a tool to keep out competitors.

In New York there are a limited number of licenses, and those are busy working for Uber. New competitors have a hard time entering the market. Startup Revel thought they found a loophole that would allow them to compete against Uber in New York. But they were shut down by regulators in a bizarre process.

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Watch How This Passenger Fakes An Injury To Skip Lines At The Airport

by Gary Leff

person moving wheelchair
Jul 01 2021

Some unscrupulous people used to request wheelchair assistance at the airport when they didn’t need it and use their ‘injury’ to get earlier boarding of their flight, better seats, and more.

Right now though there are very few people at the airport to help push wheelchairs so this is tough to do, but people are still faking injuries to make their travel experience a bit smoother, or at least cut lines.

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Air Canada To US Government: Pound Sand, We Can Cancel Flights And Keep Customer Money

by Gary Leff

Jul 01 2021

During the pandemic, Air Canada cancelled the flights and kept passenger money. They didn’t deliver the service that was promised, but wouldn’t issue refunds. That’s stealing.

The DOT proposed a $25 million fine. Air Canada wants it dismissed, arguing that the law doesn’t actually forbid them from selling flights they don’t operate and pocketing the cash.

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This Airline’s Customer Service Response Is Everything That’s Wrong With Big Companies Today

by Gary Leff

Jun 30 2021

I recently wrote about a man ejected from an American Airlines flight to Miami after throwing up in the coach lavatory prior to departure. He threw up again – on a passenger in first class – as staff guided him off the aircraft.

Fortunately the first class passenger had a change of clothes in the cabin with him. Since American employees literally guided the man, leading to the mess, he wrote in to customer service about the experience. After all, this wasn’t part of the bundle of experiences purchased with a first class ticket.

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Shameful: Dallas – Fort Worth Airport’s Strategy for Keeping Employee Wages Down

by Gary Leff

airport
Jun 30 2021

The story is a familiar one. Lower-wage employers aren’t able to find workers when they can make as much or more on pandemic unemployment, perhaps they still have stimulus money banked, and they need schools to re-open so they can work without childcare expenses.

Airports are having a difficult time because on-site businesses employ a lot of low wage workers. For instance go find someone to help a passenger in a wheelchair at major airports today.

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